1. Technical Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to detecting the state of an electrical device, and particularly to a lower power circuit and method for detecting whether a switch is closed.
2. Description of the Related Art
Techniques exist for monitoring the condition of mechanical devices and detecting whether the mechanical devices have been tampered with or otherwise physically changed. For instance, existing security systems are known to electronically monitor the state of mechanical or magnetic switches disposed about a building in order to determine whether such switches change from an open state to a closed state or vice versa. In many instances, such security systems are not implemented in an efficient or reliable manner. Some existing security systems are bulky and consume a relatively sizeable amount of power.
What is needed is a circuit and method for reliably detecting the state of a device, such as a mechanical switch, that may be simply and inexpensively implemented in an electronics system with little circuit overhead.